Answer: D - The Polish empire was characterized by its distrust of absolute monarchy and centralized power. However, the Polish nobility also had a great distrust of each other, slowing the growth of a true democracy. This suspicion also left Poland vulnerable to foreign influences, since the aristocracy did not work together. This disunity made some aspects of Polish politics more republican than its European counterparts. Nevertheless, there was no centralized rule, so levying taxes was difficult, and the government was in constant flux for the first half of the eighteenth century.
